Roh Si-hwan (26), a member of Korea's national baseball team who signed an 11-year extension worth up to 30.7 billion won with the Hanwha Eagles of professional baseball, will play in an exhibition game against his club.
The Korean national team formed a starting lineup for the exhibition game against Hanwha held on the 23rd at Kadena Stadium in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan: Kim Joo-won (shortstop), Ahn Hyun-min (right field), Kim Do-young (third base), Moon Bo-gyeong (designated hitter), Park Dong-won (catcher), Koo Ja-wook (left field), Roh Si-hwan (first base), Shin Min-jae (second base), Park Hae-min (center field). The starting pitcher is Kwak Bin, who will pitch two innings. Son Ju-yeong, also a starting pitching resource, will follow and throw two innings, and Kim Young-kyu and Park Young-hyun are scheduled to throw one inning each.
Hanwha announced ahead of the exhibition game that the team had signed its marquee hitter Roh Si-hwan to a non-FA multi-year contract. The contract terms are an 11-year period from the 2027 season through the 2037 season with options and an aggregate total of 30.7 billion won, which is the longest and largest contract in KBO League history when combining FA contracts and non-FA multi-year contracts.
Ryu Ji-hyun congratulated Roh Si-hwan on the extension, saying, "He must be feeling good," and added, "I just went to congratulate him a short while ago. There were so many rumors about the contract. Now that it's settled, he can steady his mind. I think he will bring good energy to the national team."
Ryu Ji-hyun, who said, "If I had known this, I should have made him the cleanup hitter, but I put him at No. 7," laughed and added, "I wonder if it's right to put a 30.7 billion won player at No. 7. I had already given the lineup to the players yesterday, so I couldn't change it."
Kim Do-young will play third base defensively for the first time in this game. Ryu Ji-hyun explained, "Kim Do-young will only play defense for three innings today. He will continue to bat in the lineup. We gave him time to adapt over two games, and when I spoke with the training staff today, we planned for him to take the field defensively."
The national team has a 1-1 record in the first two exhibition games (a 3-4 loss to Samsung, a 5-2 win over Hanwha). Ryu Ji-hyun said, "Things are progressing well. The parts we are preparing are proceeding without problems, so I hope that same atmosphere shows up in today's game," expressing anticipation for the players' performances.
[OSEN]